Kentucky Student Mock Election

Welcome to the Secretary of State’s Kentucky Student Mock Election site. This year, the Office of the Secretary of State is partnering with the National Student/Parent Mock Election Committee to coordinate a statewide Mock Election for students. Voting begins on October 25, 2012, and the Mock Election will be held across the Commonwealth on November 1, 2012. Secretary Grimes is thrilled to host this event and encourages all Kentucky schools to actively participate in the nation’s largest, most successful voter education project.

In 2008, the last Presidential Election year, over 100,000 elementary, middle, and high school students from across the Commonwealth cast their ballots in the National Student/Parent Mock Election. This year, Kentucky is at the forefront of the national election scene, with the only Vice Presidential debate being held in Danville. Secretary Grimes hopes the excitement from that event will generate even greater interest and turnout.

For the first time, in 2012 teachers will have the option to turn computers in their classrooms into voting machines. The virtual voting machines will allow students to receive confirmation that their votes have been cast and will be counted, helping to further engage young Kentuckians in the election process.

The 2012 Kentucky Mock Election ballot will enable students to vote on the candidates for federal offices – United States President and United States Representative. The final results of the Mock Election will be available on the Secretary of State’s website.

The Secretary of State’s Office works closely with the Kentucky Advocates for Civic Education, a multi-year effort to restore civic literacy and engagement across the Commonwealth. Mock elections are exceptional tools for confronting this issue because they engage students in the core principles of democracy and cultivate an important behavior they will carry far beyond the classroom. With your participation, we will accomplish our goal of expanding civic awareness and making this the most successful Mock Election to date!

Registration

If your school would like to be involved in fostering youth voter participation through the Kentucky Student Mock Election, please click here to register, no later than Wednesday, October 31, 2012.

Participants

To view a list of schools that have registered to participate in the 2012 Mock Election, please click here.

Report Results

To report the final results for your school's mock election click here.

Internet Resources

The guide includes recommended resources for voting and election lesson plans, in addition to websites for students to research candidates, political parties, and Kentucky elections. 

You can see the results from the 2012 Kentucky Student Mock Election, sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of State here.